


Those Who Went Before

by OveliaGirlHaditRight



Category: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: ALL THE FLUFF, Canon, Canon Compliant, Crisis Core Timeline though it goes beyond it at the end, F/M, Oneshot, canonical character deaths
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:22:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24378685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OveliaGirlHaditRight/pseuds/OveliaGirlHaditRight
Summary: On one of the many days that Zack came to visit Aerith--days that she cherished so dearly--he finally got her to let go of her fear of the sky. Oneshot. Fluff.
Relationships: Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough
Comments: 3
Kudos: 12





	Those Who Went Before

**Aerith’s PoV**

Aerith was somewhat ashamed to admit it… but there were certainly days that she spent contemplating the sky and her fear of it.

The Ancient wasn’t sure what it was about it that frightened her so… perhaps it was that she’d spent most of her life under the plate, and so had gotten used to seeing the steel plate above her. So, when she saw segments of blue above her instead of that, it took her back?

But why she thought it was going to open up and swallow her, Aerith didn’t know. She didn’t worry about that with the plate, so why

Or perhaps her uneasiness was because shrapnel could fall down from the plate... Only slight rain and snow came from the sky, that she only slightly got to experience through the plate, so was it the otherness of the sky that she couldn’t deal with? Especially since so little was known about how the sky came to be, compared to the giant pizza?

…But then _he_ dropped into her life, giving her all the answers about the sky (and maybe even SOLDIER), that she had needed to know.

He was an example, after all, of all the good things that could come from there, or so Aerith believed.

But even so… Aerith much preferred the color of the sky in Zack’s eyes than the sky itself, and one day Zack seemed to notice this.

"Aerith?” he asked, as the two of them were making the rare walk to Aerith’s house to go see Elmyra. Sometimes, Aerith got the impression that her mother didn’t like Zack much… but for the life of her, she couldn’t understand why anyone wouldn’t like the puppy that he essentially was. “…Can I ask you why you're afraid of the sky?" Aerith bit her lip and pulled her hand from Zack’s as she refused to face him. And she hoped he didn’t think she was punishing him, or anything like that, this was just… a hard topic for her. Especially since she thought she’d finally figured out her issue with the thing. If he asked, she’d lie and say she was focused on the strange piece of materia that was in her garden and not that she was nervous and hurt. "…Because it takes everyone I love."

And faster than Aerith could blink, she found herself encircled in Zack’s arms. And a ridiculous part of her wanted to push him away—because she didn’t want to be getting emotional like this, damnit—and a girl who had grown up in the Shinra building didn’t need comfort. She’d learned how to comfort herself long ago, and yet she couldn’t help from leaning into him and thanking him, anyway. “Th-thank you, Zack. This means a lot.”

“I get it, Aerith,” Zack said earnestly, as he pushed her away from him some so he could presumably look into her face. And she was glad he had, because—ironically—looking into his sky-colored eyes now were anchoring her better than anything else could. “I mean, you know how I was after- after Angeal. But what if I could prove you wrong?” Aerith shrugged at this, as a way to say she wasn’t going to veto it but also wasn’t crazy about the idea. She had a feeling she knew what he was going to do, and that it didn’t work. But still! If it gave her more time with Zack, she’d happily agree.

“Sure, Zack! Do whatever you’d like to try and prove me wrong. Surprise me!”

And he would… but it wouldn’t be for months—and that did make Aerith’s heart sink some—because Shinra called him away again. But the moment she saw him again, he was full of ideas for fun games… and it was like the time without him had never happened at all.

A few feet from the church—a place where the two of them had tried to sell flowers before—Zack had placed a beautiful cerulean blanket onto a frame, and was rolling himself into it so that it was now wrapped around him—the way one might accidentally get caught up in a curtain.

"See, Aerith?" Zack asked now—with an amusing twinkle in his eyes, that seemed to indicate to Aerith that if he succeeded in this he might try out for Loveless. "This model of the sky isn't swallowing me, is it?"

Aerith understood where Zack was coming from with this, she did, because it certainly _wasn't_ eating him... but she also did think Zack was unintentionally proving her right some. Because wasn’t he stuck in the material now? The Cetra got up from where she’d been sitting in the “audience” to tell her boyfriend this... but as she came his way, she somehow tripped over her own feet and knocked them both into the brown leg of the easel.

As Aerith had flown towards it, she had seen nothing but chocolate as far as the eye could see—and not the blue she was afraid of—and got hurt by it rather than the latter... as did Zack. As Aerith rolled away from the leg and rubbed at her offended nose, she decided that Zack had just been proven right with this.

"Oh, okay!” she relented, as she refused to look at her beau’s face, lest she lose all grace and burst out laughing at the silliness of it all. “You win! It wasn't the 'sky' that hurt me here, but something else. And I guess it goes to show that anything can do that, and I shouldn't just have a phobia of the sky. But damn! I can't believe you got this to work! I honestly didn’t think you would…"

Even though Aerith wasn’t laughing, Zack was as he held Aerith in his arms—and the sound of it was music to her ears, and what she’d been longing for for months… maybe even before that—and neither of them were at all interested in getting up from where they’d fallen on the ground.

"I'm glad- I'm glad it worked, Aerith," Zack replied, seeming suddenly serious as he looked off into the distance. And as he continued speaking, Aerith found herself wondering if he was worried that with how little he got to see his parents… the next time he got to do so, might be in the afterlife. “Those who went before you... I don't think they'd want you to fear the sky. I think they'd want you to live your life to the fullest and enjoy it... and maybe even be glad you'll someday see them again _in_ it. But then again, I dunno.” And here Zack was rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly and trying not to look at her, it seemed.

But Zack certainly wasn't wrong... and while Aerith hadn't yet told him she was a Cetra—it still hurt too much to talk about—she did ponder if he'd just unknowingly stumbled onto some truths about the Promised Land there: a place she did desperately want to see. Aerith nuzzled her face under Zack's chin and began doodling circles on his chest... as she did, the words she’d been working towards all along seemed to finally free themselves. "Well, let’s go and see the sky together, then! …At least someday." And it was a promise Zack actually held onto, Aerith would one day see... for when she _finally_ reached him in the sky and he took her hand, the first thing he did was show her the sky from their new vantage point.

And Aerith looked across the desert he'd once marched across to try and see her again, and Aerith grabbed onto Zack’s hand and cried.

"You did it, Aerith," he whispered into her ear sweetly now, as she leaned ever closer to him. "You enjoyed life—and yes, even the sky for the most part—and made it to your loved ones here."

And suddenly behind him as he said this, were her parents Ifalna and Gast… and Aerith pulled Zack with her so she could hug all three of her most important people at once.

**Author's Note:**

> Since FFVII Remake, I wrote a CloTi and it’s only fair that I wrote a Zerith, too:) Though I actually started this before the Remake, when I got smacked with the Zerith feels again one night.


End file.
